Wrap-around valance finial

ABSTRACT

A generally rectangular telescoping cafe traverse rod has a longitudinal slot on the back wall thereof and end finials decorating its ends. The end finials are wrap-around valance-type finials having a flat front face suited for custom home decoration by the application of fabric or paper, extend toward each other a limited distance in front of the rod, and are spaced forwardly of the rod to permit the passage of the ring glides between them and the rod. A tongue on each end finial is positioned in the slot and other projections provided by the finial engage the front, bottom, and back walls of the rod to non-rotatably support and resiliently clamp the end finials to the rod and reinforce the rod.

United States Patent MacFarlane et al.

[ 51 Sept. 26, 1972 WRAP-AROUND VALANCE FINIAL Inventors: Walter J.MacFarlane, Kensington, Conn.; Lawrence P. Feer, Cazenovia, N.Y.

Assignee: Stanley Judd, Wallingford, Conn.

Filed: Sept. 13, 1971 Appl. No.: 179,913

US. Cl. ..l6/87, 16/94, l6/87.2 Int. Cl. ..E05d 13/02 Field of Search..l6/87, 87.2, 87.4, 87.6, 87.8,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,644,961 2/ 1972 Hachtel 1 6/94D Primary Examiner-Francis K. Zugel Assistant Examiner-Peter A.Aschenbrenner [5 7] ABSTRACT A generally rectangular telescoping cafetraverse rod has a longitudinal slot on the back wall thereof and endfinials decorating its ends. The end finials are wrap aroundvalance-type finials having a flat front face suited for custom homedecoration by the application of fabric or paper, extend toward eachother a limited distance in front of the rod, and are spaced forwardlyof the rod to permit the passage of the ring glides between them and therod. A tongue on each end finial is positioned in the slot and otherprojections provided by the finial engage the front, bottom, and backwalls of the rod to non-rotatably support and resiliently clamp the endfinials to the rod and reinforce the rod.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED I973 3.693.210

Q ATTOR N EYS WRAP-AROUND VALANCE FINIAL This invention relates totraverse rod assemblies for supporting flexible downwardly dependingdrapery panels and is particularly concerned with such an assemblyhaving. decorative end finials and ring glides which are visible abovethe drapery panel.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved drapery rodhaving valancetype.end'finials.

Another object of this invention is to provide a drapery traverse rodassembly wherein valance-type end finials are mounted by the ends of therod'and project a limited distance toward each other in front of theends of the drapery rod. Included in this object is the provision ofmeans for fixedly mounting valance-type end finials in such a manner asnot to interfere with the mounting of the draperies and the movement ofthe ring glides to the end of the rod.

Still another object of this invention. is to provide a decorative'endfinial suitable for use at each end of a traverse rod which is one of apair of such rods mounted across a pair of windows which span the cornerof a room.

A further object of this invention is to provide a traverse rod havingwrap-around valance-type end finials fixedly secured on the rods whereinthe end finials and the rod are suited to be selectively covered withfabric or paper for custom home decoration.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of constructioncombination of elements, and arrangement of parts which is exemplifiedin the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the inventionis set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a pair of traverse rodsspanning a pair of corner windows of a room and illustrating a preferredform of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged exploded perspective view illustratingthe finial mounting arrangement of the illustrative embodiment of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 33 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top view of the finial mounting arrangement.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, there is shown in FIG. 1 apreferred embodiment of the invention wherein a pair of identical cafetraverse rods l0, 12 are shown as being mounted in end abuttingrelationship as, for example, where used with a pair of windows whichspan the corner of a room.

Traverse rod is shown as being generally rectangular in crosssection andcomprises an inner rod 14 and an outer rod 16 of similar configurationassembled in telescoping fashion so that the traverse rod may beadjusted for varying lengths. The traverse rod 10 is supported by a pairof support brackets 18 of the type shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,370,819,which issued Feb. 27, 1968 and is assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention.

A flexible downwardly depending panel, such as drapery 20, is supportedby the traverse rod 10 by a master carrier (not shown) which may be ofthe type disclosed and claimed in copending U. S. Pat. application Ser.No. 85,394 which was filed Oct. 30, 1970 and is assigned to the assigneeof the present invention, and a suitable number of ring glides 22,mounted for longitudinal sliding movement in a longitudinal slot 24formed in the rear wall of the traverse rod 10. Ring glides 22 are shownas being aligned one with each set of pleats in the header of thedrapery 20 and may be of the type shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,521,318Johnson which issued July 21, 1970 and is assigned to the as signee ofthe present invention. A pull cord 26 is shown as being provided forshifting the master carrier and the ring glides to open and close thedrapery 20 in the usual manner.

A decorative end finial 30 which is preferably formed of a plasticmolded one-piece material, is mounted at each end of the drapery rod 10.

In the past, the usual end finial has been mounted to project beyond theend of the rod which has precluded the use of such a finial in certainapplications as for example at the right end of a rod, such as rod 10 asviewed in FIG. 1, which abuts a second rod, such as rod 12, at a comerof a room. This produces a lack of aesthetic symmetry. This inventionovercomes this disadvantage of the prior art by providing a fold-back orvalance-type end finial 30 which extends a limited distance reverselyalong the front of the rod from the ends thereof. Further, in accordancewith another aspect of this invention, the reversely directed portion 32of the fold back or valance type finial 30 is spaced forwardly of andparallel to the longitudinal axis of the rod and is disposed above thepleats of the draperies 20 so that the ring glides 22 are free to passbehind the folded back or reversely directed portion 32 of the finialwhen the drape 20 is opened or drawn and thereby accommodates the use ofring glides 22 to the full end of the rod to give a fully tailored andsymmetrical appearance to the traverse rod.

As shown in FIG. 1, traverse rod 12 which is identical to rod 10 isprovided with a similar wrap-around valance finial 32 at the left endthereof it will be seen that the finial 30 thereof and the adjacentfinial 30 of traverse rod 10, when placed in abutting relationship,allow the edge of the drapery 20 and the adjacent edge of drapery 36 tobe positioned close together so that their abutting edges may contactwithout an unsightly gap therebetween.

It is within the purview of this invention that the front face ofvalance portion 32 of each finial is flat and it is apparent that it maybe decorated with surface treatments and colors, which match or mix withthose of the traverse rods 10, 12, or may be covered with fabric orpaper to provide for custom home decoration.

As best shown in FIG. 4, the finials 30 are cantilever mounted by thetraverse rods 10 and 12, respectively. In order to prevent the relativerotation of the rod with respect to the finial 30 as well as to positionand provide mutual support with the traverse rod, the mounting wall 40of the finial 30 is shown as being provided with a polarity of inwardlydirected projections or shoulders 42, 44, 46, and 48 (FIG. 2).

As stated above, the rod 10 is noncircular in configuration andcooperates with projections 42, 44, 46, and 48 to locate, support, andfrictionally secure the finial 30.

The mounting wall 40 of the end finial 30 is provided with a centrallydisposed horizontal tongue 42 which is sized and positioned to beclosely received in the slot 24 formed in the back wall of the traverserods and 12.

A pair of walls 44 and 46 vertically span the tongue 42 and are spacedat distances so as to engage the upper surface and the lower surfacerespectively of the traverse rod 10 as best shown in FIG. 2. In thisregard it will be observed that the back wall of the rod is nonplanarand, as shown, is provided with a pair of longitudinally extendinggrooves 52 and 54 to provide a resiliency which exerts a limited butpositive biasing force between the groove 24 and the tongue 42. Thisarrangement further provides for any manufacturing variations andtolerances of the parts as well as to retain the desired cross-sectionalconfiguration of the otherwise unconfined end of the traverse rods 10and 12 by the mutual reinforcement between the end of the rod and theend finial.

A reinforced front wall 48 is provided to engage the front face of thetraverse rod. By virtue of the angular disposition and spacing of wall44 and front wall 48, and the resilience provided by longitudinal groove50, a limited biasing force is applied to fix the finial laterally (asviewed in FIG. 3) of the rod. The wall 48 is parallel to the frontportion 32 of the end finial and serves to locate and position theportion 32 parallel to and spaced from the front face of the traverserod 10 by the desired spacing to accommodate the passage of the ringglides 22 therebetween. Moreover, the walls 46 and 48 engage noncircularportions of the traverse rod so that the finial is held against rotationwith respect to the rod.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the end wall 40 of the finial 30 serves toclose the open end of the traverse rod, and, as will be apparent, theflat surface of this end wall may also be decoratively treated toprovide a traverse rod having a wrap-around valance.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the novel wrap-aroundvalance type end finials of this invention and their mounting meansprovide a traverse rod design in which the symmetry resulting from theuse of finials at both ends of the rod may be achieved in anyapplication without interfering with the movement of the glide rings tothe ends of the rod. In addition to the other advantages which will beapparent, the use of the wraparound end finials of this invention fullyaccommodates custom home decoration of the rods and the finials toprovide a tailored design.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art various modificationsand adaptations of the structure above described will become readilyapparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A cafe traverse rod assembly comprising a traverse rod having ringglides carried thereby, end finials nonrotatably mounted by the ends ofthe rod and having portions projecting toward each other for a limiteddistance in front of the rods substantially parallel thereto, saidprojecting portions being spaced forwardly of the rod a distancesufficient to accommodate the passage of the ring glides.

2. The assembly of claim 1 in which each end finial is proyided with anend wall disposed at an an le to the pro ecting portion, said end wallcovering t e end of the traverse rod.

3. The assembly of claim 2 in which the angled wall is provided withprojections which overlap the end of the rod to locate and secure theend finial and thereto.

4. The assembly of claim 3 in which the rear wall of said traverse roddefines a longitudinal slot, and one of said projections is closelyreceived within said slot and other of said projections resiliently gripthe end of the traverse rod to confine and reinforce the rod.

5. The assembly of claim 4 wherein the end finial presents asubstantially flat face suited for custom home decoration.

1. A cafe traverse rod assembly comprising a traverse rod having ringglides carried thereby, end finials non-rotatably mounted by the ends ofthe rod and having portions projecting toward each other for a limiteddistance in front of the rods substantially parallel thereto, saidprojecting portions being spaced forwardly of the rod a distancesufficient to accommodate the passage of the ring glides.
 2. Theassembly of claim 1 in which each end finial is provided with an endwall disposed at an angle to the projecting portion, said end wallcovering the end of the traverse rod.
 3. The assembly of claim 2 inwhich the angled wall is provided with projections which overlap the endof the rod to locate and secure the end finial and thereto.
 4. Theassembly of claim 3 in which the rear wall of said traverse rod definesa longitudinal slot, and one of said projections is closely receivedwithin said slot and other of said projections resiliently grip the endof the traverse rod to confine and reinforce the rod.
 5. The assembly ofclaim 4 wherein the end finial presents a substantially flat face suitedfor custom home decoration.